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Facebook have unequivocally said they "have no plans to launch a music service". There has been chatter for years now that Facebook would launch some sort of proprietary music service to compete with MySpace's music platform, the strong link to music being the latter's only real Unique Selling Point over the former for sometime now. Such a move could be a knockout blow to the Rupert Murdoch owned News International firm. Facebook is soon expected to 'go public' with its shares, though the company denies this. Some investment companies are offering to pay employees of the social networking firm $25 a share - that would put the value of Facebook at near $11billion.
Music deal fell through
For a while Facebook were in talks with Universal's eventually scrapped digital music venture TotalMusic, and had Universal been able to persuade all of its major label competitors to get involved (it was Warner who were the main hold out) a Facebook-branded TotalMusic streaming and download service might now be operational. After Facebook and TotalMusic stopped working together, talk of a Facebook music service died down. But MySpace's acquisition of iLike last year made some speculate that Facebook might again look to create some sort of official music facility, given that iLike control the most popular music-based third-party app used by Facebook users.
Mystery 'music app'
TechCrunch approached the social networking firm for clarification on its music plans this week, after someone noticed a mysterious official looking 'music app' was appearing in some people's application settings lists on Facebook. But the social networking company says that was a mistake. If Facebook have decided once and for all to stay out of the digital music domain that's probably good news for MySpace, who are increasingly positioning themselves as an entertainment platform rather than a true social networking community. The expanded MySpace Music service - launched here in the UK late last year of course - has been widely panned. It's enjoyed some success in the US, but when Spotify launches there (or more American music fans start to discover Grooveshark), MySpace's music service in its current form may have its days numbered. Additional Reporting by CMU Network
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